Yo Yo Plot Point / X-Men

”Every X-Men story is the same.”

— Cyclops, leaning on the fourth wall as hard as he possibly can, Uncanny X-Men (2018), issue #11

X-Men

Yo Yo Plot Point in the X-Men franchise.

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Setting

• The series premise: the X-Men will forever be "feared and hated". No matter what happens, no matter if the Avengers or the Government are on their side, no matter how many people are convinced, no matter how often people In-Universe and out swear that the Mutants will be accepted, yes, sir, this time it's permanent... rest assured, people hating "muties" (and armed with damn Sentinels) are coming up around the corner aaaaany moment now...
• Mutantkind being a biologically endangered species has been done... how many times, already? Most fans may be able to remember at least three occasions: the Legacy Virus (1992-2001), there was the post-House of M "curse" made by Scarlet Witch (2005-2010); the Terrigen Mists being (somehow) fatally poisonous to Mutants and sterelizing them (during All-New, All-Different Marvel, post-2015, 2016-2017)... and there is, of course, the many people/aliens/sentient bacteria that target mutants because they are mutants... Word of God swears up and down that this kind of plot will stop for good after Inhumans vs. X-Men, but the response of the fans (although grateful overall for the attempt at an Author's Saving Throw) is "we'll see". Uncanny X-Men (2018) ends with the governments of the world obtaining plans to create a vaccine that eliminates the X-Gene and working on plans to "inoculate" their populations, so as sure as there's a day and a night, mutants are endangered again. Not surprisingly, this is one of many things in the comic that have enraged fans, with them calling the writers out on it being one of several supposedly rehashed plot points.
• The X-Men being pretty much at each other's throats on a constant basis, backstabbing, and generally being barely able to tolerate each other because they cannot agree on how to do something (the Cyclops Vs. Wolverine animosity being one of the biggest examples, with Hank/Beast's Took a Level in Jerkass curve in the face of the constant "endangered species" arcs taking a toll on him being another one). Again, Marvel swears that they will cut down on this after Inhumans vs. X-Men in order to allow the group to just be heroes, but nobody expects it to stick.
• Are the X-Men heroes or a bunch of borderline-fascistic jerks that are no different from the other fascistic jerk factions in the mutant conundrum but are the "good guys" because they only wish to take mutants to a place where they will be left the hell alone (which makes them also no different from the Inhumans)? It started since at the very least post-M-Day and doesn't really seems to stop, leading to schisms in the team, fights with the Avengers and the Inhumans and the freaking Eternals^note although at least this one had a pretty nasty little Conflict Killer popping up and Deadpool of all people calling them out on it (not that they listen).
• The X-comics has had its share of Bad Future storylines: Days of the Future Past (1981), Cable's Apocalypse-ruled future and Bishop's timeline are some of the most famous and/or the standard that later storylines try to emulate.
• Mutants having some kind of safe place to exist. The X-Mansion in Westchester, moving to San Francisco, moving to Utopia Island, moving to Limbo, Krakoa… it never sticks. And a lot of the time the ones to blame for it are the X-Men themselves, when it's not their enemies going scorched Earth.
• During some storylines, the X-Mansion/Xavier Institute is destroyed, marking an End of an Age, either In-Universe (e.g., characters leaving) or in Real Life (e.g., title being cancelled, shifting creative teams). Whenever it is rebuilt, it generally means a Dawn of an Era. To wit:
  • During Inferno (1988), Mr. Sinister explodes the mansion, which was unused at the time. The upper portion remains destroyed, but its underground facilities are later used as X-Force's headquarters, until the X-Men return to it and the mansion is rebuilt in Chris Claremont's last arc in the X-titles (late-1991).
  • During Onslaught (1996), parts of the Mansion are destroyed by Onslaught (Xavier's evil side manifestation), and later Xavier surrenders himself to the authorities. The Mansion begins to be rebuilt piece by piece, until mid-1997's crossover Operation: Zero Tolerance, where Bastion empties the mansion of its furniture and technology.
  • At the climax of Grant Morrison's New X-Men run, "Planet X", Xorn/Magneto destroys the Institute in a flashback and captures Xavier, then moves to destroy New York and kills Jean Grey with a magnetic-induced stroke. The Institute is rebuilt at the start of the "X-Men Reload" phase (2004), marking the launch of Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men and the new creative teams.
  • During the X-Men: Messiah Complex crossover, human-piloted Sentinels destroy the Mansion, and the team disbands at the end of the arc (early-2008). The team then moves to San Francisco in Uncanny X-Men #500, leaving the site abandoned.
  • After the events of Schism (2011), Wolverine decides to return to Westchester, taking many mutants and students with him, and founds the Jean Grey Institute for Higher Learning, as seen in Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics).
  • In Uncanny X-Men (2018), during the "X-Men Disassembled" arc, Magneto, under the control of X-Man, destroys the Institute for Mutant Outreach and Learning (moved to the New York Central Park at the start of the ResurrXion phase).
• If the X-Men pay a visit to the Savage Land, and if the story is penned by Chris Claremont, there is a very likely chance that the Savage Land Mutates, led by small-statured Brainchild, will capture some X-Men and place them on Brainchild's "de-evolutionizer" machine, which can "regress them in the evolutionary scale":
  • In Marvel Fanfare (1982) #1-2, both Spider-Man and Angel travel to the Savage Land on a mission, are captured and transformed, respectively, into a large Man-Spider and an eagle-human hybrid.
  • In mini-series X-Treme X-Men: Savage Land, Storm is placed in the "de-evolutionizer" and regresses to a sort of primitive, prehistoric warrioress with bloodlust.

Individual Characters

• Professor X has an autistic son - David Haller, a.k.a Legion - with tons of superpowers and multiple personalities, some of which are evil. He's too unstable to be a superhero, so when he turns up it's almost always in the position of "villain who's really a victim". But he's basically a good kid, so every time he goes berserk he has to have a mental breakdown first. And since he's a sympathetic character, his stories have to end with him "finally getting the help he needs." In other words, virtually every David Haller story is: Legion has a relapse/Legion goes on a rampage/Legion is subdued/Legion is cured. Wash, rinse, repeat.
• Illyana Rasputin tends to have one repeating story in which Illyana struggles and inevitably fails to resist the evil in her soul, leading to her Face–Heel Turn and transformation into the Darkchilde until she's reset to struggling to resist the evil in her soul.
• Old Logan learning to accept that the world he's now in is not the same one he left behind and moving past his desire to prevent his future from coming to pass, has been revisited several times in his solo series (three of the five Jeff Lemire-penned arcs focus on it), and has even cropped up in Extraordinary X-Men, All-New Wolverine, and X-Men Gold. It's seemingly the only types of story a lot of people know how to write when it comes to him.
• A frequent criticism by detractors of X-23 is either a lack of personality or that almost every one of her personal arcs involves her trying to learn to be more than just a weapon. Unfortunately, every time she does learn those lessons and begins to develop as a character (New X-Men and her solo series in particular), editorial comes along to beat her senseless with the Reset Button and start the whole process over again.
• A recurring plot point involving Professor X is him taking a sabbatical and moving away from the school/the team from time to time. A particularly long and famous one was in Uncanny X-Men #200 (1985), when he tasks Magneto with guiding the young New Mutants recruits while Xavier travels to Shi'ar space. He only reappears in 1991, on the eve of the Muir Island Saga.
  • A second one was when he surrendered himself to the US Government at the end of the Onslaught debacle (late 1996), losing his powers and becoming a prisoner of Operation Zero Tolerance. He finally returns to the team during The Hunt for Xavier (1998).
  • Yet again, after Cyclops seemingly dies at the end of Apocalypse The Twelve (early 2000), Xavier exiles himself in space with renegade Skrulls (UXM #379), but returns in UXM #387 (Dec 2000).
  • As an epilogue to Grant Morrison's run in their title New X-Men (early 2004), Xavier exiles himself in Genosha during Excalibur (2004-2005), until House of M.
  • Another one happened post-Messiah Complex, Xavier is believed dead by the X-Men, but has actually been kidnapped by Exodus and his Acolytes. He comes back to life, but loses his memories, and goes Walking the Earth in search of his lost memories (X-Men Legacy #208-225).
• Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr… who is right, who is wrong? Has Magneto learned the error of his ways or is he back to "kill all flat-scans" mode? How many vile things has Chuck secretly done for the sake of his dream, and furthermore how many is he planning right now? The reader response: "oh, for Pete's sake".
• Jean Grey and her clone Madelyne Pryor are now and forever entwined with cosmic/metaphyshical powers they cannot be separated from:
  • Starting in 1977, Jean Grey is the Phoenix, and Phoenix is Jean Grey, even if Jean is a clone or an alternate universe counterpart. As such, it's almost unavoidable that a Jean storyline will feature the Phoenix in some capacity.
  • Starting with the Inferno crossover in 1989, Madelyne Pryor has become the Goblyn Queen and Jean's dark counterpart: she may show some psychic powers like telepathy, but she is more associated with the demonic powers of Limbo. As such, it's almost unavoidable that a Madelyne storyline will feature Limbo and demons in some capacity.

Relationships

• Rogue and Gambit are notorious for this. Even more so than Cyclops and Jean Grey, writers seem to have a dislike for giving them any kind of stable love life. Several issues were promoted as "the one where Rogue and Gambit finally get together!" but any long-term reader will realize that this will only last ten comics at best before they split up again, for increasingly ridiculous reasons. And then the chase will start all over again. Gambit lampshades this in X-Men Legacy, explaining to Rogue that he doesn't even get jealous anymore because she'll always end up back with him eventually. As of 2018 they are officially married but the marriage has been rocky, to put it nicely, thanks to Gambit's many sins coming back to haunt the couple.
• When Wolverine was introduced to the X-Men in 1975, he entered a Love Triangle with old members Jean Grey (Marvel Girl) and Cyclops. Depending on the writer, the story explicitly states there is some mutual attraction between Jean and Wolverine, or plays it more covertly/one-sided (on Wolverine's part). A wrench on the triangle was put during Grant Morrison's New X-Men run, when the Jean/Cyclops marriage was rocky at best, Emma Frost began an affair with Cyclops and Jean died in Planet X. Between 2004 and 2012, Cyclops and Emma were an item. Later, during Uncanny X-Men (2018), Emma and Cyclops are exes, and, at the very end of the run, Jean and Cyclops kiss, in front of an awkward Wolverine and Emma. In 2014 Wolverine entered a relationship with long time teammate and Fan-Preferred Couple Storm, up until his death in 2015. With Wolverine resurrection, let's see how long until this plot point is dragged up again.
• Another long-winded relationship is the Polaris/Havok/Iceman love triangle. The trio debuted in the 1960s, and Iceman and Havok vied for the heart of Magneto's daughter. Eventually, Havok was the victorious one, and the couple left the X-Men to focus on their civilian lives. During the Claremont-run Uncanny X-Men in the mid-to-late 1980s, Polaris is possessed by Marauder Malice and tries to kill Havok, in effect ending their relationship. When they moved to the ancillary title X-Factor in late-1991, they renewed their relationship, until Havok is kidnapped by Dark Beast and Random, brainwashed and tried to kill Polaris in late-1996. They make amends in a 1998 issue of X-Factor, but he dies and is transported to the Mutant X universe (1998-2001). After finally returning to the main reality, he enters a coma and is looked after by infamous character Nurse Annie, who takes part in a love triangle with Iceman and Polaris. After Annie leaves the X-books, Iceman is something of a winner in the triangle, but, in 2006, Havok and Polaris are together again as an item, and remain so until 2012. Iceman came out as gay seems to finally ends this plot point for good.

Groups

• The X-Men had, from time to time, disbanded with their members going their separate ways, which leads to a follow-up arc where they reunite. This can allow the writers to explore the characters individually, or to deal with small scale groups. Some examples in their 60+ history:
  • In the original X-Men run (1963-1970), after Xavier apparently dies at the hands of a creature named Grotesk, the team disbands, Cyclops taking a sabbatical with Jean Grey and Iceman with Beast.
  • Enforced at the end of the so-called "Outback Era": the X-Men have moved to Australia post-Fall of the Mutants, and dealt with the Reavers, the Inferno debacle, and the Brood. After some members leave or go AWOL, Psylocke leads the remaining team to a mission in the Savage Land, then they are teleported back to their Outback base, just as the Reavers are poising to retake their base. Psylocke uses the magic portal Siege Perilous to scatter the X-Men (herself, Dazzler, Colossus and Havok) around the world.
  • Pre-Apocalypse: The Twelve, Xavier disbands the team in the two-parter "The Shattering" (late-1999). This leads to three (or four, if you count Gambit's solo foray) separate groups: Marrow and Colossus meet his brother Mikhail Rasputin; Rogue, Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler find Polaris and the first of Destiny's Diaries; and Wolverine, Cyclops and Phoenix assemble a new team with Cable, X-Man and Angel.
  • Post-Messiah Complex, Cyclops disbands the team, then takes a vacation in the Savage Land with Emma Frost before they move to San Francisco. Meanwhile, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Wolverine go to Europe.
• The Hellfire Club was introduced in 1980, at the height of The Dark Phoenix Saga (by Chris Claremont and John Byrne), where they were formidable foes to the X-Men. From then on, until 1991, they kept a more or less stable roster (Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Emma Frost, Tessa) and were more adept at political manipulation than engaging in physical confrontation. After the disassembling of this first iteration, subsequent writers formed their own versions of the Hellfire Club, but they either failed due to in-story reasons (internal backstabbing, petty politics, failed power plays) or real life ones (Left Hanging, writers leaving the books, etc.). Until 2019 dual mini-series House of X/Powers of X, where they were reimagined, none of post-1991 versions had much staying power and survived for an arc or two.
• The Horsemen of Apocalypse: since Apocalypse's debut in the 1980s, he is always accompanied by his Horsemen (Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence). Also, since their very first on panel appearance (excluding retcons), there is at least an X-Men (or X-team) member in their ranks; during the arc, the X-team member betrays the Horsemen and rejoins their X-team.
• The Brotherhood of (Evil) Mutants is another group that appears every once in a while in the X-Books. The ones led by Magneto or Mystique seem to be the most memorable - so much so that, when Adaptation Distillation is in effect, she becomes his second-in-command. Further incarnations may rehash the Mystique-led version or the Magneto-led one, and they are eventually defeated by the X-Men until a different incarnation appears down the line.
• The amount of mutant-hating human groups that pop up from time to time in the X-Books:
  • In the 1980s, during X-Factor, Cameron Hodge founds an armour-wearing group named "The Right" that hunts young mutants.
  • In the graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills, reverend William Striker has his own personal army called "Purifiers", that believe mutants to be demonic abominations. Although he was dealt with in this one-shot, he returns during the Decimation banner storyline, in the New X-Men Academy X penned by Chris Yost and Craig Kyle.
  • In the 1990s, Graydon Creed, the non-mutant son of Mystique and Sabretooth (both mutants), leads a radical group named "Friends of Humanity". The group even features in the 1992 animated series from time to time. In the comics, Creed tries to distance himself from the group during his presidential campaign (in 1996). They even cameoed in some of the Spider-Man titles during 1997, after Creed's assassination.
  • Around the same time as the Decimation (late-2005, 2006), a masked woman named Leper Queen is the leader of a group named Sapiens League.
  • Unfortunately, the trend continues during the X-Men: The Krakoan Age storyline:
    • During the entirety of the Marauders book, the mutants deal with the "Homines Verendi", which is basically a repurposed version of the Hellfire Club made of teenage prodigies.
    • The main antagonist in the X-Force (2019) is an organization called XENO.
    • Last, but not least, the ORCHIS organization.

Lampshades, Deconstructions, etc.

• The recurring/repetitive nature of the X-Men comics is parodied here.
  • The author of the parody panel above also parodies the criteria for assembling an X-Team here: a character from the O5, one from the Giant-Size generation, a person from a junior team via promotion, a former villain, a C-Lister, a new character, and an Authors Pet.